Hundreds of hikers rescued from Mount Everest after severe snowstorm: NPR

BEIJING — About 900 hikers, guides and other staff stranded by a weekend snowstorm on the Chinese side of Everest have managed to reach safety, state media said Tuesday.

A severe storm hit the region Saturday evening, cutting off access to where hikers were staying in tents at more than 4,900 meters above sea level.

In total, 580 hikers and more than 300 guides, yak herders and other workers were left stranded. About 350 hikers were able to descend by midday Monday and the rest had arrived by Tuesday, state media said, citing the local government.

Some hikers were reported to be suffering from hypothermia, and the official Xinhua news agency said about a dozen had been escorted to a meeting point by teams with food, medicine, heating and oxygen.

The Mount Everest scenic area in China’s Tibet region has been temporarily closed. The 8,850 meter (29,000 foot) peak, the highest in the world, straddles the border with Nepal.

The storm hit during a weeklong holiday that ends Wednesday. Many Chinese travel at home and abroad during the holiday, which marks the anniversary of the start of Communist Party rule in China on October 1, 1949.

In Nepal, a South Korean climber died in a weekend storm near the summit of Mera Peak, a 6,476-meter (21,250-foot) Himalayan mountain south of Everest.

Early-season snowstorms hit at least two other regions in western China over the weekend, killing one person and stranding motorists on an icy and snow-covered highway near a scenic hiking spot.

More than 200 people have been evacuated from a remote and rugged valley in the Qilian Mountains in Qinghai province. One person died from hypothermia and altitude sickness.

The area is undeveloped and authorities have subsequently warned people against entering without permission, citing the difficult terrain, unpredictable weather conditions and an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters (13,000 feet).

In northwest China’s Xinjiang region, the Kanas scenic area was closed Sunday after a snowstorm stranded motorists on a nearby highway. The road was cleared on Monday, state media said.